The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei,Shu Han,and Eastern Wu dominated China from 220 to 280 AD following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Western Jin dynasty. Academically,the periodisation begins with the establishment of Cao Wei in 220 and ends with the conquest of Wu by Jin in 280. The period immediately preceding the Three Kingdoms from 184 to 220 was marked by chaotic infighting among warlords across China as Han authority collapsed. The period from 220 to 263 was marked by a comparatively stable arrangement between Cao Wei,Shu Han,and Eastern Wu. This stability broke down with the conquest of Shu by Wei in 263,followed by the usurpation of Cao Wei by Jin in 266,and ultimately the conquest of Wu by Jin in 280.
Sun Quan,courtesy name Zhongmou (仲謀),posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu,was the founder of Eastern Wu,one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by his elder brother,Sun Ce,in 200. He declared formal independence and ruled from November 222 to May 229 as the King of Wu and from May 229 to May 252 as the Emperor of Wu. Unlike his rivals Cao Cao and Liu Bei,Sun Quan was much younger than they were and governed his state mostly separate of politics and ideology. He is sometimes portrayed as neutral considering he adopted a flexible foreign policy between his two rivals with the goal of pursuing the greatest interests for the country.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history,starting in 184 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 by the Western Jin. The novel is based primarily on the Records of the Three Kingdoms,written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century.
Sun Ce,courtesy name Bofu,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian,who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord,Yuan Shu,and headed to the Jiangdong region in southern China to establish his own power base there. With the help of several people,such as Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu,Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.
Sun Jian (155–191?),courtesy name Wentai,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a coalition to oust Dong Zhuo,a tyrannical warlord who held the puppet Emperor Xian in his power. Although he controlled neither many troops nor much land,Sun Jian's personal bravery and resourcefulness were feared by Dong Zhuo,who placed him among Yuan Shao,Yuan Shu and Liu Biao as the most influential men at that time. After the coalition disbanded in the next year,China fell into civil war. In 191,Sun Jian was killed in battle during an offensive campaign against Liu Biao.
Liu Biao,courtesy name Jingsheng,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for serving as the governor of Jing Province from 192 until his death in 208. He was also a member of the extended family of the Han emperors through his ancestor Liu Yu,the fifth son of Emperor Jing. Liu Biao was described as a handsome man and was over eight chi tall.
Yuan Shao,courtesy name Benchu (本初),was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred towards the end of the Han dynasty. He was also an elder half-brother of Yuan Shu,a warlord who controlled the Huai River region,though the two were not on good terms with each other.
Dynasty Warriors 4 is a hack and slash video game and the fourth installment in the Dynasty Warriors series. Dynasty Warriors 4 was developed by Omega Force and published by Koei. The game is available on PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Xbox and is based on a series of books called Romance of the Three Kingdoms,written by Luo Guanzhong. As the series has progressed,it has strayed further from the actual plot of Romance of the Three Kingdoms but instead has given the user more input on how the storyline progresses. When it was released in Japan as Shin Sangokumusou 3,it topped the sales charts,sold over one million copies within nine days,and received an average of 78 out of 100 on Metacritics reviews.
Yuan Shu,courtesy name Gonglu,was a Chinese military general,politician,and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He declared himself Emperor of China in 197 under the short-lived Zhong dynasty,two years before his death in 199.
The military history of the Three Kingdoms period encompasses roughly a century's worth of prolonged warfare and disorder in Chinese history. After the assassination of General-in-chief He Jin in September 189,the administrative structures of the Han government became increasingly irrelevant. By the time of death of Cao Cao,the most successful warlord of North China,in 220,the Han empire was divided between the three rival states of Cao Wei,Shu Han and Eastern Wu. Due to the ensuing turmoil,the competing powers of the Three Kingdoms era found no shortage of willing recruits for their armies,although press-ganging as well as forcible enlistment of prisoners from defeated armies still occurred. Following four centuries of rule under the Han dynasty,the Three Kingdoms brought about a new era of conflict in China that shifted institutions in favor of a more permanent and selective system of military recruitment. This ultimately included the creation of a hereditary military class as well as increasing reliance on non-Chinese cavalry forces and the end of universal conscription.
Huang Zu was Chinese military general and politician during the late Eastern Han dynasty. . He served as the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery under Liu Biao,the Governor of Jing Province. He is best known for killing the warlord Sun Jian in an ambush during the Battle of Xiangyang (191) and resisting an invasion by the warlord Sun Quan at the Battle of Xiakou (203). He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Jiangxia in 208 against Sun Quan's forces.
The end of the Han dynasty was the period of Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE,roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler,Emperor Xian. It was followed by the Three Kingdoms era. During the end of the Han dynasty,the country was thrown into turmoil by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205). Meanwhile,the Han Empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords,some of whom were nobles and officials of the Han imperial court. The warlord Cao Cao took control of Emperor Xian and his court in 196 and began gradually reunifying the empire. Cao Cao ostensibly operated under Emperor Xian's rule,though in reality the emperor was a hostage.
The Heirloom Seal of the Realm,also known in English as the Imperial Seal of China,was a Chinese jade seal allegedly carved out of the Heshibi,a sacred piece of jade. The Seal was created in 221 BC,shortly after Qin Shi Huang unified China and established the Qin dynasty,China's first imperial dynasty. The Heirloom Seal served as the imperial Chinese seal throughout the next millennium of Chinese history,and its possession was seen as a physical symbol of the Mandate of Heaven.
Huan Jie,courtesy name Boxu,was a Chinese official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and served under the warlord Cao Cao. After the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty,he briefly served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period.
The Campaign against Dong Zhuo was a punitive expedition initiated by a coalition of regional officials and warlords against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The members of the coalition claimed that Dong had the intention of usurping the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage and by establishing a strong influence in the imperial court. They justified their campaign as to remove Dong from power. The campaign led to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Chang'an. It was a prelude to the end of the Han dynasty and,subsequently,the Three Kingdoms period.
The Battle of Xiakou was fought between the warlords Sun Quan and Liu Biao in 203 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Sun Quan's forces attempted to conquer Jiangxia Commandery,which was defended by Liu Biao's general,Huang Zu. The battle was inconclusive as Sun Quan's forces were unable to capture Jiangxia even when Huang Zu retreated. The battle is not to be confused with the Battle of Jiangxia that took place five years later,which concluded with victory for Sun Quan over Huang Zu.
Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong were a series of military campaigns by the warlord Sun Ce to conquer territories in the Jiangdong and Wu regions from 194 to 199 towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. The conquered lands served as a foundation for the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280).
The Battle of Yangcheng was fought between the warlords Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu as the coalition against Dong Zhuo fell apart in 191 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Sun Jian,Yuan Shu's nominal subordinate returning from his triumphant capture of the abandoned capital of Luoyang,became involved in Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's personal feud as the former allies turned against one another. Yuan Shao's forces,under Zhou Yu,first got the upper hand against Sun Jian's forces,but were beaten back by Sun's counterattack.
The campaign against Yuan Shu was a punitive expedition that took place between 197 and 199 in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The campaign was initiated by the Han government against warlord Yuan Shu after Yuan declared himself emperor of the new Zhong dynasty,an act perceived as treason against Emperor Xian,the nominal Han ruler. The campaign concluded with the defeat of Yuan Shu and collapse of his self-established Zhong dynasty.
